Last Updated on April 9, 2024 by Val Waldeck
The Prophetic Significance of Palm Sunday
Few people realize the prophetic significance of Palm Sunday. The prophet Zechariah prophesied this event in detail. Hundreds of years earlier, Zechariah wrote that Messiah would enter Jerusalem on a donkey. The prophet Daniel told us the exact date this event would take place. History confirms both prophecies.
Why is Palm Sunday so important to believers? There have been many contenders for the title of Messiah. This prophetic event clearly points out who the GENUINE Messiah is.
Who is the Real Messiah?
The Jewish people had been expecting Messiah for a long time. Isaiah prophesied His coming in BC 800 (Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 53:5,6), as did many other prophets. The question was: How would they know who the genuine Messiah was?
Zechariah, an Old Testament prophet, answered that question in BC 520-518. The real Messiah would be recognized by a specific event. “Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey” Zechariah 9:9. The prophet Daniel wrote about the same event, giving a time-line and the precise date.
How Palm Sunday is very Prophetic
Palm Sunday is an important day in the Christian Calendar. Churches celebrate it globally as the start of religious observances during the Holy Week, leading up the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Palm Sunday and its Prophetic Significance
Why is Palm Sunday so important to believers? There have been many contenders for the title of Messiah. This prophetic event clearly points out who the GENUINE Messiah is.
Palm Sunday and Zechariah’s Prophecy
The Jewish people had been expecting Messiah for a long time. Isaiah prophesied His coming in BC 800 (Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 53:5,6), as did many other prophets. The question was: How would they know who the genuine Messiah was?
Zechariah, an Old Testament prophet, answered that question in BC 520-518. The real Messiah would be recognized by a specific event. “Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey” Zechariah 9:9.
Jesus Riding on a Donkey
Many scholars believe it was on April 6, AD 32, that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The common people were expecting the Messiah to do exactly that and they were excited. Men, women, and children, spread palm branches and clothing on the road before Him. Matthew 21:1-12 records what happened that day.
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”, they shouted. “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Matthew understood the prophetic significance of this event. “All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”
Palm Sunday and Daniel’s Prophecy
Prior to Zechariah’s prophecy, Daniel specified the exact date of Messiah entering Jerusalem to die for our sins. In approximately BC 600, he wrote:
“Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.
Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street shall be built again, and the wall,
Even in troublesome times.”
— Daniel 9:24,25
He prophesied five things:
- A period of “seventy weeks” has been set aside by God to deal with the Jewish people and their Holy City.
- Specifically, during this period of time Messiah would come to deal fully and finally with sin.
- A command would be given to rebuild and restore Jerusalem which would set that prophecy in motion.
- After a period of 69 weeks (7+62 weeks), the prophetic clock would stop temporarily.
- The beginning of the 70 weeks would be recognized not only by the command but by its fulfillment as the streets and walls of Jerusalem are rebuilt in troublesome times.
The Prophetic Meaning of the “70 Weeks”
The “seventy weeks” is an expression that means “seventy weeks of years”, i.e. 490 years. (One week = 7 years. 70 weeks = 7 x 70 = 490 years).
The Prophetic Clock stopping after 69 weeks: 69 x 7 years = 483 years. Just 7 years short of the prophesied 490 years.
The Historical Fulfilment of Prophecy
Now, watch this!
- On March 14, BC 445, King Artaxerxes of Persia decreed that the Jews may return to Jerusalem and restore the City and its walls. Ezra and Nehemiah record the details in the Old Testament books bearing their name. The 70 weeks (490 years) prophecy had begun. What happened 483 years later?
- Zechariah’s prophecy was literally fulfilled as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey on April 6, AD 32, 483 years later.
If you are trying to work out these dates on our calendar, remember Pope Gregory XIII changed our calendar in 1582 and made some errors. The Jewish calendar is correct.
Palm Sunday and the Missing Seven Years
We are in the Church Age now. When the Lord returns for His Church at the Rapture and we are “caught up” to meet Him in the clouds (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18), those missing seven years will begin. The Prophetic Clock will start again. People living during the reign of antichrist can mark their calendars. Exactly seven years later, the Lord will return with His Church and stand on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4).
During these seven dreadful years prophesied in the Book of Revelation, the Lord will deal specifically with the Jewish people. All who survive this time of “Jacob’s Trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7) will recognize and serve their Messiah in spirit and in truth. “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins” Romans 11:26,27.
Palm Sunday and the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ
Palm Sunday stopped the prophetic clock over two thousand years ago. We remember that important event because it points clearly to the Return of Christ and the final seven years of history as this world knows it.
We are the only reason the antichrist has not yet been revealed. “And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8.
Christian, in these tumultuous end time days, stand up and be counted. Resist, reject, and restrain evil while we are still here! When the Church is gone the world will experience unrestrained evil.
Those who focus their eyes on palm branches miss the point. We must keep our eyes on the clouds, looking up and expecting His Return for the Church at any moment.
“I Can’t Keep My Eyes Off The Clouds” composed and sung by Ray Ludik
The Blessed Hope is the expectation of Christians. We are looking for His appearance to meet us “in the clouds” with eager joy. The Glorious Appearance will be the day all people see Him as He returns to stand on the Mount of Olives with His Church in order to deal with evil once and for all (Jude v.14,15).
Passionate about the Return of Christ… Occupying Until He Comes
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